jobberone
Kane Ala
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The first really big, fast TE I can remember is John Mackey. He was used differently by the Colts than any TE of his era or before as far as I know. One year Mackey returned kicks. He caught 331 balls for over 5000 yds and a still unbelievable avg of almost 16 ypc. In 1963 he returned 9 KOs for over 30 yds/KO which is second only to Gale Sayers' record 30.6 yds/return. So why I'm I telling you all this other than being a huge Mackey fan? Because he was the first TE to be sent into routes other than drags and such. He was used as a down field receiver as well as the then usual TE role which was unusual to say the least.
Mackey retired in 1972 after a season in San Diego due to knee problems. Fast forward to 1979 and back to the SD Chargers and you find a 6-5 245lb TE named Kellen Winslow on the team. He played in 7 games that year, started one and caught 25 balls at 10 yds per pop. Not much of a start to a career destined to change the game of football and lead to the HOF.
Ok, back up a bit to one kid out of NC who graduated from a Santa Fe HS that being Santa Fe Springs CA in 59 being the star QB. That kid went to junior college and then to that strong armed QB factory San Diego State University where one Don Coryell was the coach. That kids name was Joe Jackson Gibbs otherwise known around these parts as Joe Gibbs the famous NASCAR owner, NHRA owner and infamous (at least around here) two time coach of the Washington Commanders. PS: I always wondered if he was named for Shoeless Joe.
So what the heck does Joe Gibbs have to do with this conversation and who gives a rip? Well after playing for Coryell he became the offensive line coach there for a couple of years after getting his Masters from SDSU and then moving on to Florida State, USC under John McKay, and Arkansas under Frank Broyles and that famous staff. Pretty good lineage huh? He eventually reunited with Coryell in St Louis and then on to San Diego with Coryell in 1979 where guess who was playing TE. Yep, Mr Winslow.
So what! Well, coaching there was one Ernie Zampese, Mr Air Coryell of course, and Jim Hanifan along with Gibbs. Quite a show. They saw a big tall fast kid who was getting hammered getting into coverage. Being Air Coryell and all that Joe decided it was a huge waste of talent. They decided to move that TE off the LOS some, put him in motion and wide and the next year he played in all 16 games and started 11 of them catching 89 balls for almost 1300 yds and 14.5 yds per with 9 TDs one for 80 yds. No TE had ever gotten anywhere near those number of receptions and the ypc were WR numbers. Only one John Mackey had ever gotten those ypc and in fact had over 20 ypc on two occasions and a career avg of almost 16 ypc. But he'd never caught anywhere near those numbers of passes.
So how did that happen. Well, first and foremost, you're talking Dan Fouts, Chuck Muncie, Charlie Joiner, Wes Chandler and the first Greatest Show on Earth. Muncie signaled the arrival of the modern one back set. Winslow the first joker or WR/TE hybrid. And Air Coryell not only made great use of the timing offense started by Paul Brown and put on steroids by Sid Gillman but took advantage of the Mel Blount rule to really take the 'grind it out' out of the NFL. And what made Winslow special was using him as a WR and not as a traditional TE...that and all the rest of the Air Coryell machine.
So Gibbs made a name for himself and got the attention of the rest of the NFL and found himself in Washington as their new HC relieving Jack Pardee. Washington had a fling with success early in their history and a brief one with George Allen in the 70s but had otherwise been a NFL whipping boy. So when Gibbs got there he didn't have much to work with. But he had that experience with Winslow. Unfortunately for him he didn't have another Winslow. But he did have some rough and tough football players and he found a way to use his TEs in a different way. He used them not only as traditional TEs but also as a FB and soon popularized the use of 2 TE sets. Thus was born the F or H back, a FB/TE hybrid. So less you think this is an article on Gibbs and the Commanders, nope; just a history of how TEs developed. Of course we've seen more use of the two TE set as time went on and a blossoming of the hybrid TE both the joker and the H back.
I guess one question I have is why did it take so long for the idea of hybrid TEs to become as popular as they have? Tall, big and fast WRs have always been hard to defend. Some clubs have taken basketball players in the past not only for receivers but also for the lines and DBs. I do think that the majority of big, tall, fast, athletic guys that could have been a terror on the football field either played baseball (Winfield) or mostly basketball. Can you imagine Karl Malone playing TE?
But one point I wanted to make was there are two TE hybrids. One I would call a joker with the prototype being Winslow a WR/TE. The other is the H back which I would call more a TE/FB. I think the joker is more exciting and productive but I think the H back can also be a productive offensive receiving weapon if used properly.
Mackey retired in 1972 after a season in San Diego due to knee problems. Fast forward to 1979 and back to the SD Chargers and you find a 6-5 245lb TE named Kellen Winslow on the team. He played in 7 games that year, started one and caught 25 balls at 10 yds per pop. Not much of a start to a career destined to change the game of football and lead to the HOF.
Ok, back up a bit to one kid out of NC who graduated from a Santa Fe HS that being Santa Fe Springs CA in 59 being the star QB. That kid went to junior college and then to that strong armed QB factory San Diego State University where one Don Coryell was the coach. That kids name was Joe Jackson Gibbs otherwise known around these parts as Joe Gibbs the famous NASCAR owner, NHRA owner and infamous (at least around here) two time coach of the Washington Commanders. PS: I always wondered if he was named for Shoeless Joe.
So what the heck does Joe Gibbs have to do with this conversation and who gives a rip? Well after playing for Coryell he became the offensive line coach there for a couple of years after getting his Masters from SDSU and then moving on to Florida State, USC under John McKay, and Arkansas under Frank Broyles and that famous staff. Pretty good lineage huh? He eventually reunited with Coryell in St Louis and then on to San Diego with Coryell in 1979 where guess who was playing TE. Yep, Mr Winslow.
So what! Well, coaching there was one Ernie Zampese, Mr Air Coryell of course, and Jim Hanifan along with Gibbs. Quite a show. They saw a big tall fast kid who was getting hammered getting into coverage. Being Air Coryell and all that Joe decided it was a huge waste of talent. They decided to move that TE off the LOS some, put him in motion and wide and the next year he played in all 16 games and started 11 of them catching 89 balls for almost 1300 yds and 14.5 yds per with 9 TDs one for 80 yds. No TE had ever gotten anywhere near those number of receptions and the ypc were WR numbers. Only one John Mackey had ever gotten those ypc and in fact had over 20 ypc on two occasions and a career avg of almost 16 ypc. But he'd never caught anywhere near those numbers of passes.
So how did that happen. Well, first and foremost, you're talking Dan Fouts, Chuck Muncie, Charlie Joiner, Wes Chandler and the first Greatest Show on Earth. Muncie signaled the arrival of the modern one back set. Winslow the first joker or WR/TE hybrid. And Air Coryell not only made great use of the timing offense started by Paul Brown and put on steroids by Sid Gillman but took advantage of the Mel Blount rule to really take the 'grind it out' out of the NFL. And what made Winslow special was using him as a WR and not as a traditional TE...that and all the rest of the Air Coryell machine.
So Gibbs made a name for himself and got the attention of the rest of the NFL and found himself in Washington as their new HC relieving Jack Pardee. Washington had a fling with success early in their history and a brief one with George Allen in the 70s but had otherwise been a NFL whipping boy. So when Gibbs got there he didn't have much to work with. But he had that experience with Winslow. Unfortunately for him he didn't have another Winslow. But he did have some rough and tough football players and he found a way to use his TEs in a different way. He used them not only as traditional TEs but also as a FB and soon popularized the use of 2 TE sets. Thus was born the F or H back, a FB/TE hybrid. So less you think this is an article on Gibbs and the Commanders, nope; just a history of how TEs developed. Of course we've seen more use of the two TE set as time went on and a blossoming of the hybrid TE both the joker and the H back.
I guess one question I have is why did it take so long for the idea of hybrid TEs to become as popular as they have? Tall, big and fast WRs have always been hard to defend. Some clubs have taken basketball players in the past not only for receivers but also for the lines and DBs. I do think that the majority of big, tall, fast, athletic guys that could have been a terror on the football field either played baseball (Winfield) or mostly basketball. Can you imagine Karl Malone playing TE?
But one point I wanted to make was there are two TE hybrids. One I would call a joker with the prototype being Winslow a WR/TE. The other is the H back which I would call more a TE/FB. I think the joker is more exciting and productive but I think the H back can also be a productive offensive receiving weapon if used properly.